Mark Torpey is the sports editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger, and this is our all-sports blog. Use it as a jumping off point for our sport-specific blogs on Boston pro teams, or stay right here and talk about high school and college
...

Mark Torpey is the sports editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger, and this is our all-sports blog. Use it as a jumping off point for our sport-specific blogs on Boston pro teams, or stay right here and talk about high school and college sports and other topics.

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Oct. 31, 2013
12:01 a.m.

Surprising. Amazing. Stunning. Improbable. These are just a few of the dozens of words that can be used to describe the Red Sox incredible journey to become 2013 World Series Champions.

When Koji Uehara threw the final pitch of this season and David Ross received it, I was left to wonder what the odds would have been in January around those two being the last battery left standing.

All spring we heard what a close-knit group this Red Sox team had become and the cynical amongst us (me included) scoffed at the notion of chemistry triumphing over talent. Then summer got hot and the Sox just did not fade – they persevered, never losing more than three-games in a row as they barnstormed around the country. By the time Labor Day came upon us it was not just two or three guys with beards, but 20+ guys with varying degrees of facial hair and the team seemed to exhibit the “We Are Family” vibe of the ‘70s Pittsburgh Pirates – with David “Big Papi” Ortiz playing the role of Willie “Pops” Stargell. It was a team in the truest sense of the word – nary a negative word was spoken about anyone (outside of Ortiz questioning Ryan Dempster’s plunking of Alex Rodriguez during a Sunday night loss to the Yankees) and harmony, which had been a buzzword since Fort Myers, was practiced.

This version of our area’s team became a collection of individuals who carried one another across the finish line. At different points of the season everyone had his own heroic moment and the regular roster was supplemented as necessary by reinforcements from the minors - some who stuck and some who went back for more seasoning and the promise that their time was coming. The biggest trade of the season saw Boston give up future Gold Glove shortstop Jose Iglesias for rotation fixture Jake Peavy. This trade was Ben Cherington and ownership giving the players the message that this year was important and they believed in this squad.

No mention of this year’s club would be complete without acknowledging the impact of the Marathon bombings on Boston and this region and conversely the impact that the Red Sox had when they immediately adopted the “Boston Strong” mantra, carrying the “617” uniform with them wherever they went. The Red Sox – from Ortiz’ rallying cry about this city/our city – always seemed to be doing something to aid in trying to heal people’s injured psyche. To a greater or lesser extent each player seemed to feel that they needed to pay something back and it brought us closer to them.

Finally, it was clearly not one player who carried this club to victory, but it is good and fitting that Ortiz was the MVP of a World Series that he dominated in a way very few hitters have been able to throughout the 110-years of the Fall Classic. Love him or loathe him, Big Papi is ours and his place in the fabric of this team is secured with think, gold thread.

On Halloween the last few years it has been easy to look ahead to spring and the hope that comes with it. Today we are able to savor the feeling of being part of a championship season unlike any of the other two titles the Sox won in the 2000s. This team started the season with nothing more than questions and finished with a trophy. They became the example for every team that believes and the embodiment of the words Kevin Garnett so eloquently spoke those five-years ago in Boston – “Anything’s possible!”